When the original NASA Mercury program to train astronauts was set up, a group of women who wanted to be part of the program were subjected to the same physical tests as the men. The result? [Read more…]
I read a lot of so-called liberal blogs and it is astonishing how many seem to be squirming uncomfortably with the Snowden revelations. Some seem to see nothing wrong with the government seeking to keep secret the massive spying programs while paradoxically saying that they knew it was going on all the time so the revelations tell us nothing new. But if they knew it already (or thought they knew), why are they opposed to everyone knowing it? Or do they think that only the elites should know such things? One wonders whether if such people were living in the former East Germany, they would have approved of the Stasi and its program of collecting data on people. If they feel that what the Stasi did was wrong, then why do they think that what the NSA did is right? [Read more…]
The Guardian‘s Ewen MacAskill has a fascinating account of why Edward Snowden chose their paper to release his information rather than a US publication, and how the whole thing went down. The US media missed getting this scoop because it has developed a reputation for being highly solicitous of the needs of the US government, often consulting with them before publishing stories, and even withholding news at the government’s request. One well-known case is what resulted in Snowden going to Glenn Greenwald. [Read more…]
As could have been easily predicted, both The Daily Show and The Colbert Report had bits on the Snowden affair and they promise more in the days to come. This was Jon Oliver’s first day as fill-in anchor for Jon Stewart for the summer and he did a pretty good job handling a big story. As he said in a different clip, the revelations of the NSA monitoring all electronic and phone communications would be making the Amish feel pretty smug right now, if only they had any idea what was going on. [Read more…]
Edward Snowden has given an interview to the South China Morning Post. In it, he says that he will provide more revelations in due course, something that Glenn Greenwald has also said will happen. I am certain that they are they are telling the truth and it will happen. [Read more…]
Jesse Berney tries to clear things up with the NSA, just to avoid any misunderstandings.
Mike Huckabee is a smooth-talking bigot but he said something to the annual convention of his Southern Baptist church that I totally agree with, and that is that they should give up their tax-exempt status. He wants to do this so that his church can go into full throttle battle mode against the right to abortions and homosexuality. [Read more…]
I want bring attention to this video of the appalling treatment of a woman who complained of being sexually assaulted by a court official. It happened in a Las Vegas courthouse under the nose of a judge and I learned of it via Max Read.
States that are embracing modernity tend to be moving in the direction of greater acceptance of equal rights for the LGBT community. But Russia is clearly going in the other direction. By a vote of 436-0, the Russian Duma has passed an anti-gay bill that bans “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations”. It seems likely that it will pass the upper house and be signed into law by Russian president Vladimir Putin. [Read more…]